2Fer #7 Revision - Lauren Nicolella

Lauren Nicolella

April 17th, 2018

English 3

Ms. Pahomov

Another Reason to Love Animals

Domesticated animals have always been a large interest of not only children, but adults as well. Whether it is a dog, cat hamster or even a ferret, they are another vital member of a family that is deserving of love and endless cuddles. The options are truly endless and all animals provide a very large mental and physical factor to families around the world. By having a pet in a household, it is benefitting one’s mental health by keeping them occupied and gives a sense of relief because of a distraction being placed on them.

Anxiety and depression are one of the largest mental health issues that many people have to face on the daily. Although these are not easy to overcome, there are ways to help an individual solely based on adopting a pet. According to the American Psychiatric Association, animals help a range of those who have mental illnesses. “These specially trained therapy dogs help people with a variety of mental health conditions, including, dementia and Alzheimer’s, depression, PTSD, and autism. Therapy sessions typically include a therapist and the dog and its handler and they often work together through a series of sessions.” By having a pet, it allows people to be active, therefore taking their mind off of what had been stressing them out. Dogs are being trained to become therapy and service dogs, giving access to be in a hospital, which is one of the main places they are being brought to in order to provide some source of help. By having these certified pets in places like hospitals and simply a home with a family, they are slowly contributing relief to those who face struggles every day.

Many scientific studies, research, and surveys have been conducted in order to test if the possibilities are true and actually effective to those who adopt a pet. Steve Feldman from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America has researched a concept he calls “the pet effect,” which is explained through some statistics taken from a survey. “Any pet owner will tell you that living with a pet comes with many benefits, including constant companionship, love and affection. Not only are people happier in the presence of animals, they’re also healthier. In a survey of pet owners, 74% of pet owners reported mental health improvements from pet ownership, and 75% of pet owners reported a friend’s or family member’s mental health has improved from pet ownership.” By owning an animal, responsibilities are given and expected among a family and individual as well. Creating a new routine and being a part of caring for a new furry member of a family can create a distraction from the previous amount of mental issues that were preventing daily actions to be able to happen. Even with smaller pets like hamsters or guinea pigs, they require more maintenance than a more domestic animal like a cat or a dog, and that close animal interaction helps with relieving fear and anxiety.

Although adopting a pet may not be a solution for everyone dealing with a mental health issue, it is a great alternative and worth a try if there is an available option to do so. By having a companion constantly around, it could make up for the absence of another human and discard many negative thoughts and overwhelming feelings someone may feel throughout the day. Animals are a source of therapy and relief, and are able to be accessed easily, as there are always many dogs, cats, hamsters, ferrets, and plenty of other pets that are available and are willing to look for a friend as well.

This was my best possible 2Fer because I feel that I did a lot more research that also had an impact on me and others. The topic I chose allowed me to be genuinely curious about what I was going to be writing about, since animals are a huge part of my life and I have noticed some changes of when they are around and how I have changed mentally throughout this school year. A main goal I tried to stick to was making sure that my points were not going too all over the place, since I have a tendency to skew away from what I originally presented in my thesis statement. Finally, I have been able to work on my analytical essay skills and I feel that this definitely involved the most percents and statistics to help back up my argument, as well as follow up points that lead into the topic.

Works Cited:

• Therapy Dogs: Helping Improve Lives of People with Mental Illness, www.psychiatry.org/news-room/apa-blogs/apa-blog/2016/12/therapy-dogs-helping-improve-lives-of-people-with-mental-illness.

• Oaklander, Mandy. “Pet Therapy: Science Proves Owning a Pet Is Good for You.” Time, Time, 6 Apr. 2017, time.com/4728315/science-says-pet-good-for-mental-health/.

• “Pets and Mental Health.” Mental Health Foundation, 20 Nov. 2017, www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/p/pets-and-mental-health.

• “Alleviating Anxiety, Stress and Depression with the Pet Effect.” Alleviating Anxiety, Stress and Depression with the Pet Effect | Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA, adaa.org/learn-from-us/from-the-experts/blog-posts/consumer/alleviating-anxiety-stress-and-depression-pet.